Re: getting the most out of TWM

Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote at 21:35 this Friday (GMT):

From the «hey, default» department:
Title: Getting the most out of TWM, X11’s default window manager
Author: Thom Holwerda
Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2024 12:17:49 +0000
Link: https://www.osnews.com/story/140172/getting-the-most-out-of-twm-x11s-default-window-manager/
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Graham’s TWM page[1] has been around for like two decades or so and still isn’t
even remotely as old as TWM itself, and in 2021 they published an updated
version with even more information, tips, and tricks for TWM[2]. The Tab Window
Manager finds its origins in the lat 1980s, and has been the default window
manager for the X Windowing System for a long time, now, too. Yet, few people
know it exists – how many people even know X has a default window manager? –
and even fewer people know you can actually style it, too.
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OK, so TWM is fairly easy to configure but alot of people, upon seeing the
default config, scream ‘Ugh, thats awful!’ and head off to the ports tree or
their distro sources in search of the latest and greatest uber desktop
environment.
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There are some hardcore TWM fans and mimimalists however who stick around and
get to liking the basic feel of TWM. Then they start to mod it and create
their own custom dekstop. All part of the fun in Unix :).
↫ Graham’s TWM page[1]
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I’ll admit I have never used TWM properly, and didn’t know it could be themed
at all. I feel very compelled to spend some time with it now, because I’ve
always liked the by-now classic design where the right-click desktop menu
serves as the central location for all your interactions with the system. There
are quite a few more advanced, up-to-date forks of TWM as well, but the idea of
sticking to the actual default X window manager has a certain charm.
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I almost am too afraid to ask, because the answer on OSNews to these sorts of
questions is almost always “yes” – do we have any TWM users in the audience?
I’m extremely curious to find out if TWM actually has a reason to exist at this
point, or if, in 2024, it’s just junk code in the X.org source repository,
because I’m looking at some of these screenshots and I feel a very strong urge
to give it a serious go.
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Links:
[1]: https://www.cpcnw.co.uk/twm/twmrc.htm (link)
[2]: https://www.cpcnw.co.uk/twm2/Grahams_TWM_page2.html (link)

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Interesting. I think I tried TWM during my search for "the perfect
desktop environment" and passed on it pretty quick. If it's as
customizable as claimed here, I might give it another shot.
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